Parking Enforcement Workers Job Description

What do Parking Enforcement Workers Do?

Cities and towns rely on parking tickets to bring in funds to meet budgetary needs and to ensure that regular new traffic is coming in to local businesses. As a parking enforcement worker, you will be tasked with patrolling a specific, assigned area that could include both city streets and public parking lots. You will issue tickets to any illegally parked vehicles or those that have stayed past their initially paid time limit. Your assigned patrol could include completing your rounds by foot or by vehicle.

Parking Enforcement Workers Skills and Abilities

You will need several varied types of knowledge to complete your duties, including clerical, law and government, public safety and security, customer and personal service, and proficient ability with the English language. Your job duties entail citing people for violations that cost them money, so social perceptiveness is an important skill that can help you understand why they have a difficult time accepting your decisions. Speaking, active listening and coordination all go hand-in-hand when you need to make a quick decision about whether a ticket is warranted.

Parking Enforcement Workers Duties

You will need a good eye for detail and the ability to stick to a set number of required duties each time you start a shift. As you patrol your assigned area, you must maintain close communications with dispatch, write warnings and citations, observe and report any hazards such as missing signs or street markings that must be repainted, and provide information to members of the public about parking facilities and parking regulations. In some instances, you will need to assist motorists or pedestrians, direct vehicle traffic or testify at legal or legislative proceedings. Other duties might include:Arranging for vehicles to be towedTraining new or temporary staffPerforming simple vehicle maintenanceCollecting coins from metersPreparing and maintaining logs of parking enforcement activitiesMonitoring environmental conditions to report hazards

Parking Enforcement Workers Tools and Technology

You will need several tools and machines to make your rounds, including parking enforcement vehicles, bar code reader equipment, cash registers, parking meters and portable data input terminals. You may need other tools, according to whether your town or city uses advanced technology or a more traditional metering system that’s been in place for years. The technology that’s common in your field is standard for many others. Spreadsheet, presentation and word processing software, in addition to Web browsers, are commonly used in your field. You will also need to be familiar with database user interface and query software.

Education and Training for Parking Enforcement Workers

Unlike many professions today, you can enter the workforce with a high school diploma, although a similar percentage of individuals employed in this field have either some college or a bachelor’s degree. It is normal to complete a short on-the-job training period before receiving your own assigned area to patrol.

Parking Enforcement Workers Salary

Pay rates start on the low side for those in the bottom 10 percent of earners, at only $22,000 annually, but are significantly higher in the median, with an income of $36,600 each year. The top 10 percent of earners can expect $56,200 or more in salary each year.

Parking Enforcement Workers Jobs by Geography

Workers who aren’t afraid to travel for the right job can expect several states to increase their number of parking enforcement workers by a large percentage. The top five states expected to grow their number of employees in this field are Arkansas, Utah, New Mexico, Kentucky and Texas. The states that employ the largest number of people in this job category are California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois and New Jersey.